1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a system for and a method of processing data to send data to and receive data from an external device, and an apparatus for and a method of sending and receiving data, and more particularly to a system for and a method of processing data and an apparatus for and a method of sending and receiving data, which are preferably applicable to a system using a video game machine and a portable information communication terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
Conventional video game machines such as video game apparatus for home use operate by running an application program in a video game machine unit based on game data recorded in a recording medium or an auxiliary memory to play a video game such as a competition game, for example, according to instructions entered by the game player via a manual controller. Such video game machines are finding widespread use at home.
Many video game machines generally have an excellent data processing capability for processing image and audio data so that the game player or user can experience complex and realistic images and sounds. Specifically, the data processing capability of conventional video game machines makes it possible to display complex game characters and produce realistic sounds for the video game, and can provide more sophisticated images and sounds than those produced by existing computers.
Though the conventional video game machines have the excellent data processing capability, however, they remain an apparatus for executing an application program to play a video game.
There have heretofore been proposed systems of inter-connected master and slave units for sending and receiving data therebetween. The data sent and received between the master and slave units are merely ordinary image and sound data. It has not been attempted to supply an application program to be executed by the slave unit from a recording medium that belongs to the master unit.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to provide a system for and a method of processing data and an apparatus for and a method of sending and receiving data, which are capable of sending and receiving data between a master unit and an external device via a slave unit.
The above and other objects, features, and advantages of the present invention will become more apparent from the following description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings in which preferred embodiments of the present invention are shown by way of illustrative example.